Illinois State Cancer Registry Achieves National Recognition

For Immediate Release – May 13, 2021

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Cancer Registry (ISCR) has been awarded a contract by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. Illinois joins 13 other states and several metropolitan areas currently participating in the SEER program. Participating in the SEER program will significantly expand ISCR’s cancer surveillance activities in Illinois to include patient follow up, enhanced data collection, rigorous quality control of cancer data, and increased opportunities to participate in research projects and collaborations.

The ISCR is located within the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiologic Studies and has maintained Gold certification (the highest level for data completeness, quality, and timeliness) through the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) for more than two decades. The ISCR has been named a Registry of Excellence from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries continuously since 2014.

“It has long been a goal of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to have the Illinois State Cancer Registry be a part of the SEER program,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “I am proud of the cancer registry staff who have worked diligently to collect and maintain high quality cancer data resulting in the highest level of certification for the past 23 years. Their work and dedication have made this inclusion in the SEER program possible.”

The SEER Program is an authoritative source of information on cancer incidence and survival in the U.S. and provides information used to help reduce the burden of cancer. SEER is supported by the Surveillance Research Program (SRP) in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. SRP provides national leadership in the science of cancer surveillance as well as analytical tools and methodological expertise in collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and disseminating reliable population-based statistics.